Breaking out in his junior year, Golden is this year’s jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

Approaching the 2025 NFL Draft, we’ll be scouting as many of the top prospects that the Pittsburgh Steelers could have their eye on anywhere from Rounds 1 through 7. We’ll break down the prospects themselves, strengths and weaknesses, projected draft capital and their fit with the Steelers.

BRIEF INTRO: (Example: The Steelers might have a big need at cornerback this offseason with Donte Jackson set to hit free agency. Could Florida State’s Azareye’h Thomas be the Steelers’ next CB2?)

The basics on Matthew Golden

• Position: Wide receiver
• Class: Junior
• Size: 6’0, 195 pounds (unofficial)
• Age: Turns 22 on August 1
• Projected draft round: Late 1st-Early 2nd
• Pro Comparison: Laveranues Coles

Stats via Sports Reference

Matthew Golden bio & scouting report

Matthew Golden is perhaps the biggest riser of the current draft season. Though I wouldn’t compare their body types or playstyles, fans of the NFL draft will see similarities in Golden’s sudden rise to notoriety with another Texas wide receiver — 2024 draftee Adonai Mitchell. Like Mitchell, Golden had some of his best games late in the season, most notably the SEC Championship game against Georgia and the Peach Bowl against Arizona State.

Golden grew up in Houston and was 247 Sports’ 25th-ranked WR nationally during his recruiting class. He ultimately chose to stay at home and committed to the University of Houston despite offers from Texas, LSU, Wisconsin, TCU, Pitt and others.

Golden carved out a role for himself as a freshman with a 38-584-7 receiving line while playing behind Tank Dell, a player who had a special run over his final two seasons at Houston. A foot injury and a lack of chemistry with the Cougars’ new quarterback in 2023 led to a disappointing sophomore season. Golden hit the transfer portal and wound up reuniting with high school teammate Jaydon Blue — a running back in this draft class — at Texas.

Golden caught two touchdowns in the season opener but otherwise had a relatively slow start to begin the year. He didn’t eclipse 100 yards in a game until the SEC Championship. It wasn’t until after his teammate Isaiah Bond missed time with injury that the Longhorns started increasing his target share. Of his 58 receptions for 987 yards on the year, 19 receptions and 411 yards came in the Longhorns’ final four games of the season.

I highlight this not to detract from Golden or to imply that he can’t develop into a true blue NFL No. 1 receiver. When given volume in college, he produced. But it’s important context to remember that he was not provided that opportunity often, so a lot of Golden’s appeal is also projection. I believe Golden is an ascending player in his development, but I also want to manage expectations that can often get out of hand with first-round picks. Let’s meet the prospect where he’s at.

As a route runner, Golden has shown to be one of the better prospects in this draft. That’s saying something as his route tree was fairly limited at Houston. Watching his Texas tape, you can see that he’s able to accelerate out of his breaks to create sudden separation at all three levels of the field. He seems to have a solid read on where the soft spots in a zone defense are. There are times when I would like to see him be more aggressive coming back to the ball and shielding it from defenders with his body.

But Golden has plenty of tantalizing moments on tape. Wanting more consistency from Golden is a point I will keep hammering, but it’s not hard to see why he’s an intriguing prospect when you look at the displays of body control, ball tracking and adjustment, and ability to extend to snag a ball away from his body he has littered throughout his Texas tape.

Golden proved this year that he can win at all three levels of the field: deep, intermediate and underneath. This provided opportunities to see how he could create after the catch. I wouldn’t say Golden is elite in this area either — he isn’t Ja’Marr Chase — but he’s got more than enough functional playing speed and physicality to fight for extra yards. Golden has the instincts of a winning possession receiver, always seeming to get the most he can out of a play. He isn’t a human joystick, nor does he possess the type of speed that makes you jump out of your chair when watching. But what he does have is plus-spatial awareness.

Golden, for the most part, has strong, reliable hands. I’ve seen him get knocked for the occasional concentration drop, but personally, I’m not overly concerned with it. PFF credited him with 4 drops — one against Kentucky, one against Clemson and two against Georgia. Personally, I would argue they made a clerical error as I have two clear drops against Clemson and one of the drops against Georgia is a weird deflection I don’t know that I would count. Regardless, below are the drops I found on his 2024 tape.

Last but not least, Golden also provides some special teams versatility as a return man. If the Steelers make additional moves like signing or trading for another receiver, they could put Golden on the Antonio Brown track and give him early reps in the return game. I think there were times Golden was a bit too aggressive as a return man this year, but if anybody can mold a special teams guy, it’s Danny Smith.

Strengths

• Strong ball-tracking ability and body control both on downfield throws and in adjusting to off-target passes; plays bigger than he is
• Willingness to play through traffic and over the middle, showing promising contested catch ability
• Has a good feel for route timing, showing an ability to create separation at all three levels of the field
• Has met the moment in big games, especially in the Arizona State game in the college football playoff

Weaknesses

• Average size. Will need to either add weight or level up his release packages to prove he can consistently win against NFL press corners
• Despite having highlight catches all over his tape, will occasionally suffer from concentration drops
• Not much of a blocker at this phase of his development

What others are saying about Matthew Golden

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com

Golden works all three levels of the field with similar consistency and productivity. His route-running needs refinement, but he does a decent job of altering tempo and separating at break points. Golden has the ability to play all three receiver spots. He also has the agility and body control to turn near-misses into highlight catches. Focus drops still pepper his play, but he’s a willing participant in traffic and took command of contested catches with better physicality and catch strength in 2024. Golden’s starting-level traits and big leap forward as a go-to playmaker have him primed to become a productive catch-maker with the potential to develop into a WR1 in the future.

Keith Sanchez of The Draft Network

Golden’s effectiveness as a receiver begins with his precise route-running and diverse releases. At the snap, he utilizes a wide array of releases depending on the defensive back’s alignment. He can quickly get into his route using a speed release or employ a more deliberate, tempo-controlled release to counter tough press coverage, forcing defensive backs into false steps. Once into his route, Golden displays the skills of an experienced and detailed route runner. He accelerates and decelerates with ease, using tempo to keep defenders guessing. At the top of both out-breaking and in-breaking routes, he sinks his hips, executes sharp cuts, and accelerates out of breaks, creating separation and providing quarterbacks with clear throwing windows.

Golden is a natural hands-catcher who secures the ball consistently. On deep routes, he excels at tracking the ball, showing exceptional concentration to make catches in stride over his shoulder. He is equally adept at catching the ball in high-traffic areas, demonstrating focus and reliability. Golden also has a knack for making contested catches, using body control to adjust to the ball and secure it even in tight coverage.

Kyle Crabbs of The 33rd Team

Golden can win against press or soft-catch coverage thanks to his initial quickness, foot speed, and awareness of how his body can help to create separation at the top of the route. Golden runs an impressive variety of routes and does well to sell false breaks on his stem.

Golden was more of a screen and vertical receiver early in his career at Houston playing under Dana Holgerson — meeting the traditional Air Raid route distribution. More than 50 percent of Golden’s total routes as a freshman in 2022 were exclusively go balls and hitches. At Texas, the route distribution on such patterns was down to 34 percent. It’s still an area where he wins, thanks in large part to his ability to stack off the line and the physicality he offers with a defender in trail, but his development in this regard is exciting.

Matthew Golden’s fit with the Steelers

Golden projects as primarily a Z-receiver, but has enough versatility to take additional snaps at X-receiver and in the slot. Asking if the Steelers could use a talented receiver in any of those roles is like asking if water is wet. Golden’s ability to win on vertical routes, hitches, crossers, and in-breakers in addition to underneath routes and designed screens would undoubtedly be useful.

That isn’t to say there aren’t fit concerns. For starters, the Steelers have made it clear for several years now that they want to run the ball. Golden provides very little in the way of blocking at this point in his football career. That also impacts screens and other passing concepts near the line scrimmage when Golden is not the target. That leads to the second concern: Do Golden and Pickens work together on the same team?

TL;DR: Golden is an early-declare prospect who has shown massive growth as a route runner and contested-catch winner, and appears to be getting better each year. He doesn’t possess an elite physical trait, but his competence in all levels of the game gives him a higher floor than most of the prospects in this class.

Ultimately, I think the Steelers would benefit from the addition of Golden. Of the three receivers I see consistently mocked to the Steelers — a group that includes Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka and Missouri receiver Luther Burden — Golden is the guy I would want to take a swing on. But I also believe they would be paying a premium price at pick 21 for a player I would consider above average, but not in the same tier as a prospect as Justin Jefferson or even Brandon Aiyuk, players who were picked at 22 and 25 respectively in the 2020 draft. I like Golden much more as an early second-round pick, but that would be out of the Steelers’ range barring a trade back.

What are your thoughts on Texas WR Matthew Golden? And which draft prospects would you like to see profiled next? Let us know in the comments below!